Sausage cooker



June 30,1942. A. E. AFF 2,287,956

SAUSAGE COOKER Filed Jan. 2, 1941 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Iii-3f. 1. Pg. 3-

, A T -"E i i 4.9 l l i i i I v 2 l8 1 I a l l l. l" l. V I g .55 /8 i F.5

INVEN TOR.

W. A TTORNEY June 30,1942. A A F 2,287,956

SAUSAGE COOKER Filed Jan. 2, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. W 5

. BY v ATTURNEY June 30,1942. A, E, AFF 2,287,956.

SAUSAGE COOKER 'Filed Jan. 2, 1941 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 .INVENTYORLATTORNEY Patented June 30, 1942 memes SAUSAGE GOQDKERW Albert E. Ail,Rockaway Beach, Calif. Application January 2, 194-1, Serial No. 372,7693 Claims. (oi. 219-19) This invention relates to electrical cookers, and

. especially to a cooker or heater forv sausages of the type commonlyknown as hot dogs or frankfurters.

- as a resistance to a sufiicient extent to be heated or cooked by thecurrent; to provide a cooker .in which electric. terminals are caused toper-- forate and enter opposite ends of the sausage, to establish anelectric circuit therethrough, and inconjunction therewith to provide athird perforating element, containing a thermostat actuated switch,saidelementzentering the sausage in unison with the electric terminalsand serving the function of breaking the circuit through the electricterminals and causing withdrawal of the same when the sausage reaches apredetermined temperature; and further, to provide a cooker which isentirely automatic in operation, and which delivers the packagedsausages one by one to the electric terminals,- introduces saidterminals and thermostat, closes an electric circuit through thesausage, breaks. the circuit when a predetermined temperature isreached, withdraws the terminals and thermostat, and discharges thepackaged sausages after cooking or heating.

The invention is shown by way of illustration in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Fig. l is a central'vertical section of the sausagecooker;

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the housing cover removed;

Fig. 3 is a, horizontal section taken on line III-HI of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 1 showing the .position of theapparatus when one packaged sausage and bun has been heated anddischarged,

and the next one in succession dropped into position for the next cycleof operation;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal cross section taken on line V-V of Fig. 4; I

Fig. 6 is a wiring diagram of the electrical parts of the apparatus IFig. 7 is a perspective view of the package containing the huh andsausage;

Fig. 8 is a cross section taken on line VIII VIII of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged longitudinal centralsection of the thermostatcontainer, the thermostat, and the switch mechanism actuated thereby.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and particularly to Figs. 1 to 3,'Aindicates in general a rectangularly shaped vertically disposed housing,constructed of sheet metal or similar material. Pivotally mounted in theupper portion of. the housing, as at 2, is a hopper or container B, inwhich may be'placed, one above another, aplurality of packaged articlessuch as indicated at 3.

The type of package employed in the present instance is that shown inFigs. '1 and 8. These packages may be constructed of lightweightcardboard or like material; they are substantially square in crosssection and approximately five or six inches in length. One side of eachpackage has three openings 4, 5 and 6 formed therein, and a weakenedtear line I is provided to permit quick and ready opening of thepackage. Each package contains a sausage 8 surrounded by a bun 9, andone of the features of the present inventionis to provide means forremoving the packages one by one from the lower end of the container B,heating the sausages and the buns surrounding them, and thereafterdischarging the package. I

The container 3 is ,rectangularly' shaped in cross section throughoutits length, and open at both the top and bottom. The housing A isprovided with a hinged cover It which, when'open,

exposes the upper open end of the package receiving container,- andpermits refilling thereof from time to time. ducedslide by gravityto thelower end, where they are supported by a U-shaped shelf l I. Thelowermost package, or that indicated at 3a (see Fig. 47; first assumesthe position there shown, but shortly thereafter it is transferred fromthat position to the position shown in Fig. l, where it remains until itis heated and finally discharged. The manner in which this isaccomplished will be as follows.

Suitably secured to the front face I2 of the hopper or container B is anelectric motor I 3. Connected therewith is a gear reduction housing l5,and driven thereby is a crank 15, which is connected by means of a linkIt with a bracket. ll secured to the rear wall |B of the housing. When acircuit is closed through the motor, the crank willrotate in thedirection of arrow a one revolution, and during that revolution thehousing will be swung from the position-shown The packages thus intro-'one package will drop onto package, and will pass perature.

' high-voltage taps,

which enters thereby is a rod in Fig; l to the position shown in Fig. 4;and then back to the original position shown in Fig. 1, where it willcome to rest, as the circuit through the motor will be broken.

the shelf l l, as shown at 3a in Fig. 4. During movement, of thecontainer B in the direction of arrow b, or towards the rear wall, therear portion Ila of the U- shaped shelf will engage the package andforce it between a pair of spring-actuated latch arms I! (see Fig. 3)which are pivoted as at 20. At the same time a pair of electrodes 4a and6a- During this operation age taps 25 and 25 of the transformer isdelivered to the 'two terminals ofthe thermostat element, indicated at31 and- 33, by wires 39 and -4Il. No current flow throughthe thermostatwill,

however, take place until thethermostat reaches a certain temperature.As the terriperature gradually increases, the element 32 will move in.the direction of arrow 0, and will finally engage the inner\ point ofthe rod 34, thus closing the circuit, and when the circuit is closed-acircuit through the motor l3 will also be closed. To accomplish' this acertain number of relays and will pass through the openings 4 and 6 inthe through the bun and enter the sausage to assume the position shownin Fig. 3, this perforation of the bun and sausage by the electrodestaking place during the of the container B towards the rear'wall, as thepackage containing the bun and sausage engages a striker plate 2| andwill remain in engagement with this plate while the electrodes areentering. Simultaneously with the entrance of the electrodes 4a and 5d atubular element So will also enter; that is, the electrodes 4a and 6awill enter opposite ends of the bun and sausage, while the element 5awill enter the center portion of the sausage. This element contains athermostat element and a switch, and serves the function of closing acircuit, hereafter to be described, when the sausage reaches apredetermined tem- Current from the secondary 23 of a transformer (seeFig. 6) passes through the electrodes 4a and 6a,-and thesausage proper.The sausage itself forms aresisjtance to the flow of current,

and this resistance is utilized to develop the heat desired.

The transformer referred to may at any convenient point within thehousing or at some point adjacent the same. In this instance it is shownas supported by the rear wall I8 of the housing (see Fig. 1). Currentfrom any suitable 'source of supply, as a lighting cirbe mounted finalmovement other switches will be required, and before they are describedit may be stated that the apparatus as a whole may be coin-controlled ormanually controlled by means of a switch 4| (seeFig. 6).

Mounted adjacent this switch is a coin chute, the lower end of which-isshown at 42. The upper end of this chute will extend to the upper end ofthe housing A, and when a coin, forinstance ,a ten-cent piece, isintroduced it will fall by cuit, enters the primary 24 ofthe transformerand induces the current'in the secondary. The secondary has taps formedthereon-as indicated at 25, 26, 21 and and they supply current to theelectrodes. The taps 25 and 25 are lowvoitage taps. and the use to whichthe current supplied to them is put will be explained hereinfter. aBefore explaining the several circuits that are formed, it might be wellto explain the construction and operation of the thermostat element thesausage in unison with the electrodes 4a and 5a. This thermostat elementis bestshow-n in Fig. 9. It consists of an outer tube of metal, such asindicated at so, which may be enameled on its exterior surface topromote cleanliness and. sanitation in use. Within this tube is mounteda second tube 3|. In the inner disposed adjacent the upper end of thebi-metallicthermostat element 32. The rod is, however, threaded as shownat 34, and by rotatin the rod the inner poiht may be moved toward 28;the taps 21 and 28 are the or away-from the thermostat element, toincrease or decrease the final temperature desired within the sausage.

In actual operation current from thelcw-voltgravity to the lower 'endand then discharge into a container, not shown. During the downwardtravel of the coin it passes an opening 43; into this opening extendsone end of a lever 44, pivoted flows through wires 45 and 41 to oneterminal of the switch, and if the switch is closed it will flow outthrough the other terminal and wire 48, which connects with one end of arelay coil 49. The opposite end of the coil is connected with a wire 50,and.this in turn is connected with the wire 40 and the other low-voltagetap 26, thus completing the circuit. When the coil 49 of the relay is'energized by a flow of current, it attracts an armature 5| mounted on apivoted lever 52. This is accordingly pulled downwardly, permitting thelever 52 to ride into a notch 53 formed in a lever 54. This lever isspring actuated, and its lower end engages and closes the contacts of aswitch 55. This switch, together with a second switch indicated at 55awhich is normally closed, closes a high-voltage circuit through theelectrodes 4a and 5a, which can be traced as follows: Commencing withthe highvoltage tap 28, the current passes through a wire 60 to theelectrode 5a. It then passes longitudinally through the sausage and outthrough the opposite terminal 4a, then through a wire 6| to the contactsof the switch 55, and as these are closed it will pass through thatswitch and wire 52 which is connected with the switch 55a, and as thisis closed it will flow through wire 63 to the opposite tap 21 of thetransformer, thereby completing the circuit.

After the current has-been flowing through the sausage and the sausageis becoming heated due to resistance to the flow of current, thethermostat tube 30 also becomes heated, as it is embeddedin the sausage.The bi-metallicstrip 32 becomes heated and gradually moves in thedirection of arrow 0, and when the desired temperature has been reached,contact'will' be made with the inner point of-the rod 34, and a newcircuit will beformed through the wires 39 and 40.

Wire 40, as already stated, connects with the low-voltage tap 25, andthe wire 39 with the low-voltage tap 25. The current, however, beforereaching the low-voltage tap 25, will have to pass through the coil of asecond relay switch, and then back to the tap 25 to complete thecircuit.

When there is a current flow in the coil 10, an

armature mounted on a pivoted arm II is attracted. This arm engages thecontacts of a switch 12, and this switch closes the main line circuit tothe motor 13. Immediately, when the assume vertical position, as shownin Fig. 4. The

package previously introduced between the latch arms l9 will drop frombetween them the moment the electrode terminals and the thermostat 5aare extracted, as the shelf ll moves from under the latch arms IS. Thepackage, thus released, drops onto an inclined chute 16, from which itmay be removed by the purchaser through an opening 15. Shortlythereafter, the next package drops onto the shelf H, as shown at 3a, andas the crank I5 completes the second half of its revolution thecontainer will swing back to the position shown in Fig. 1, and thepackage will be pushed inwardly between the latch arms and retainedthereby, and the electrodes and the thermostat element will again enter.

At this point a pin 16 will engage an arm ll of the switch 550., andwill break a circuit through a second switch 551) mounted on theopposite side. Another pin is shown as mounted on the housing; thispinis indicated at I8. This will engage the arm 54 when the housingassumes the position shown in Fig. 4, and will thus return the arm toits normal position, or that shown in Figs. 1 and 6.

The operation of the pins 16 and i8 is im-' portant. To explain thisimportance it might be stated that when the coin is first dropped andactuates the lever M which closes the switch M,

the motor is energized, the container B begins to a swing away from therear wall It; pin l6 moves in unison with it and away from the a, thusautomatically breaking the heating circuit,

5a. At the same time, switch 55b closes, and this functions as a holdingswitch for the circuit already established by the thermostat switch.This circuit can be traced as follows:

Current from the low-voltage tap 26 passes through wire 40 into theswitch 55b, and as the contacts are that is, the circuit through theterminals 4a and menced to cool; hence the necessity of the holdingswitch 55b, as the motor might otherwise stop before it has completedits operation. However, by providing the holding switch 55?) the motorcircuit is maintained" regardless of any cooling efi'ect on thethermostat element, and as the motor operates, the housing will firstassume its extreme outer position, shown in Fig.4. At that point, pin 18formed on the housing will engage the arm 56- of the relay coil 69, andswing it back to normal position, where it will be latched by the arm52. All circuits are now broken with the exception of the motor circuit,and that circuit will not be broken until the crank 95 completes thelast half of its revolution, or in other while the switch 55b will beopened, and when chute l2 closes the first preliminary circuit; this iin turn closes other circuits, and the operation is thus completelyautomatic until the lowermost package has been-perforated, heated, theelectrodes again extracted and the package discharged, and all circuitsare open, when the motor circuit is finally opened through switch 552).

The openings t,-5 and 6 in each package serve as guides t directthe'electrodes and the thermostat element into proper position withrelation to the sausage to be entered. The electrodes and the thermostatare of course supported by the rear "wall of the U-shaped shelf H, andthey are insulated therefrom, as clearly shown' in Figs. 3, 5 and 9. Theelectrodes da'and 6a are preferably made of carbon, as burning of thesausage is thus prevented, due to the large surface contact, andfurthermore as no metal is presentthere is no tendency toward theformation of chemical reactions which might impart taste and aceedinglysimple the chance of any of the machinery etting out of orderis rather remote.

While certain features of my invention have 7 been more or lessspecifically described and illus-r trated, I nevertheless wish itunderstood that.

closed it will pass out through the other terminal of the switch andwire 80, which connects with the coil of the relay I0; then passesthrough that coil and wire 46 back to the tap 25 of the lowvoltage sideof the transformer. That "is, the moment the electrodes 4a and Ba andthe thermostat tube 30 are pulled out of or extracted from the package,during movement of'the container away from the rear wall l8, thethermostat immediately begins to cool, and as it firstof all closed thecircuit through the relay coil Ill, it

Having thus described and illustrated my invention, what I claim"anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is: f

1. In an article cooker, a support, a substantially vertically disposedcontainer adapted to receive a plurality of articlesin stack formation,a pivoted connection between. the upper end of the container and thesupport, a U-shaped bracket on the lower end of the-container forming asupport for the articles in the container, a pair of spaced electricterminals on" said bracket,

when the article reaches a predetermined temperature, and means actuatedby movement of the container away from the extractor for releasing theheated article for discharge.

' 2. In an article cooker, a housing, a substantially verticallydisposed container adapted to re-' ceive a plurality of articles instack formation, a support secured to the lower end of the container tosupport the articles placed therein, a pair of spaced electric terminalssecured to the support, an article extractor disposed adjacent the sup:

actuated by movement 01 the container away from the extractor forreleasing the heated article for discharge from the extractor.

3. In an article-cooker, a housing, a substantially vertically disposedcontainer adaptedto receive a plurality of articles in stack formation,

a support secured to the lower end of the container to support thearticles placed therein, a pair of spaced electric terminalssecured tothe support,'an article extractor disposed adjacent the support, apivotal connection between the upper end of the container" and thehousing, an electric motor, means actuated by the motor for imparting aswinging movement to the lower end of the container to and away from theextractor, means for closing a circuit through the motor to causemovement of the container toward the extractor, said movement causingthe lowermost articleto be engaged by the extractor and port, a pivotalconnector between the upper end of the container and the housing, meansfor imparting a swinging movement to the lower end of the container toand away from the-extractor, said movement of the container toward theextractor causing the lower-most article in the container to be engagedby the extractor and also causing the electric terminals to enter thearticle, means actuated by the movement of the lower end of thecontainer toward the extractor for closing an electric circuit throughthe electric terminals, and the article to heat the same, means forbreaking said circuit when the article reaches a pre-determinedtemperature, and means the electric terminals toenter the article, meansfor breaking the circuit through the motor and simultaneously closing acircuit through theterminals and the article to heat the article, othermeans for breaking the circuit through the terminals and the articlewhen a predetermined temperatureis reached and for again closing thecircuit through the motor to cause the lower end of the container toswing away from the extractor to withdraw the terminals from thearticle, and means actuated by movement of the container away from theextractor for releasing the heated article from the extractor and forbreaking the circuit through the motor when the container has returnedto substantially vertical position.

- ALBERT E. AFF.

